Judge John Buttrick Headed to Federal Court... as a Judge!

Judge John A.
Buttrick, the highest ranking elected Libertarian in the United States, has
resigned his position as an Arizona Superior Court Judge to accept a position as
a United States Magistrate Judge in the District of Arizona, effective
immediately.

Judge
Buttrick was appointed to the Arizona bench in 2001 by a Republican Governor
following stints on the Libertarian National Committee and as Chair of the
National Platform Committee in the late 1990s. Buttrick also ran as a
Libertarian for Governor of Arizona and for the Arizona House of Representatives
in 1994 and 1998 respectively. Following his appointment to the bench, Judge
Buttrick was twice retained by the voters in retention election in 2004 and
2008.

The federal
court appointment was not made by the President or approved by the United States
Senate, Buttrick stressed. “This appointment was made by the District Court
Judges in Arizona directly and is for a four year term. While I have enjoyed my
service on the state court level I am excited to explore this new opportunity in
the federal judiciary. The only downside is that I will be unable to be
politically active during my term in office so I will not be involved in LP
affairs while still on the bench.”